A Foster Care System Where Every Child Has a Loving Home | Sixto Cancel | TED

翻译人员: Sophia Ye 校对人员: sylvia feng

People ask me all the time,

人们经常问我:

"What is the toughest part

我遇到的最艰难的部分是什么？

about growing up in the foster care system?"

I was an 11-month-old baby when I was placed in foster care.

我十一个月大的时候 就被送到寄养机构。

By the time I was in the third grade and I was about nine, I was adopted.

到了三年级时， 大约九岁的时候，

我被收养了。

I was given a new forever family,

我有了一个永远的家，

but it was far from a loving home.

但这个家并不是一个充满爱的环境，

I was consistently referred to as the N-word.

他们不断用种族歧视 的词汇来辱骂我。

The refrigerator couldn’t be touched.

还规定我不准从冰箱拿吃的。

She cared more about that check than she did me.

我的养母更在乎那张支票而不是我。

By the time I was 15, I was sick of it.

到了我15岁的时候，我受够了。

I knew that I needed to take matters into my own hands.

我知道我需要亲自处理这个问题。

So after watching "Law and Order," the show --

所以看完电视剧《法律与秩序》之后

(Laughter)

（笑）

Thank God for Olivia Benson.

感谢奥利维亚·本森，

(Laughter)

（笑）

I realized something.

我意识到，

I needed to get the evidence of what was happening to me.

我需要一些证据来证明 我身上发生了什么。

So I took a recorder and I took some tape

于是我拿起录音机，

and I taped that recorder to my chest

用胶带把它固定在胸前，

and I got the evidence that I needed to get back into the foster care system.

收集了我所需的证据， 以重新进入寄养系统。

Even without abuse,

即使没有受虐待，

foster care is a tough experience.

寄养是一段艰难的经历。

You don't know what's actually going to happen to you.

你不知道下一步会发生什么。

You're placed with a stranger and you're expected to become family.

你被送到陌生人身边， 却期望你成为他们的家人。

But if you don't fit in, if you act up a little bit too much,

但如果你不能融入， 如果你表现不好，

you will find yourself in a new home

你就会被送到一个新家，

with new school, new rules, new everything.

新学校，新规则， 一切都是新的。

When I was placed back in foster care at 15,

当我十五岁重新进入寄养系统时，

I thought that that was the end of my storm.

我以为那是我苦难的终点。

But it was just the beginning of the next storm.

但这仅仅是下一轮寄养的开始。

I didn’t go back home,

我没有回家，

went to a few different homes, but unlike many,

辗转了几个寄养家庭后，

I was placed in a non-profit program where I got ready to live on my own.

我被送到一个非盈利机构， 在那里，我独自生活。

The foster care system is not doing a good job of raising children.

寄养机构并不适合孤儿成长。

Unsupported foster youth are two to three times more likely

没有得到支持的 寄养青少年与无家可归、

to have negative outcomes

监禁和被性贩运相关 的负面结果有两到三倍的风险。

related to homelessness, incarceration, being sexually trafficked.

The mental toll is severe.

心理压力非常严重。

I want you to think about war veterans.

思考一下战争退伍军人。

Foster youth are two times more likely than war veterans

寄养青少年患上 创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）

to experience and suffer from PTSD.

的可能性是战争退伍军人的两倍。

This is why I started Think of Us,

这就是为什么我创办 Think of Us的原因，

because this is the current result of the foster care system.

因为这是寄养系统的现状。

It's designed wrong.

它的设计是错的。

So we approach problems differently.

因此，我们以不同的方式解决问题。

We actually engage those who are impacted.

我们实际上与受影响的人进行互动。

We ask questions, we listen.

我们提出问题，倾听他们的故事。

We take the collective experience of thousands of people

我们将成千上万受影响人群 的经验转化为数据和见解，

who are impacted

and turn that into data and insights

从而了解系统中最严重的问题 以及从何处开始重新设计。

that then we know what are the most broken pieces of the system

and where we can start to redesign it.

We work with leaders across the entire sector,

我们与整个行业的领导者合作，

people with lived experience, to co-design new solutions.

与那些有实际经验的人 共同设计新的解决方案。

And then we do whatever it takes to implement those solutions.

然后，我们会竭尽所能来 实施这些解决方案。

I want to give you an example.

我想给你们举一个例子。

We overwhelmingly heard from teenage foster youth

我们听到来自青少年寄养青年 的压倒性声音，

that they were being misplaced in group homes.

他们被错误地安置 在集体寄养家庭中。

The system was acting like they have nowhere to place these children.

系统似乎找不到合适 的地方安置这些孩子。

Turned around, we sent our researchers out.

于是我们派出研究人员去调查。

And what they were able to reveal

他们发现这些孩子中 的大多数实际上

was that the majority of those children actually had extended family members

有可以与之生活的亲属。

that they could have lived with.

On top of that,

此外，

that they were having these very traumatic experiences.

他们经历了非常严重的创伤。

We collected those voices and lifted them up.

我们收集了这些声音， 并提升它们的影响力。

The vibration of the truth of what they shared with us

他们所分享给我们的真实信 息的共鸣是如此之强，

was so strong that it helped inform litigation

brought on by the United States Department of Justice,

以至于它帮助美国司法 部民权部门提起诉讼，

the Civil Rights Division.

It helped inform an investigation into institutional abuse

调查以营利为目的的集体寄

by these for-profit group homes by the United States Senate.

养家庭的机构滥用行为，

It helped inform an amicus brief

还帮助美国参议院对此进行调查。

that went to the United States Supreme Court.

它还帮助撰写了提交给美国 最高法院的友情陈。

That is the power of lived experience.

这就是亲身经历的力量。

The key to transformation is lived experience.

转变的关键就在于亲身经历。

For the past eight years,

在过去的八年里，

we've listened to thousands of young people.

我们倾听了成千上万 的年轻人的声音。

And it's become so clear that there's one key thing that we need to transform.

而一个事实变得如此清晰，

那就是我们需要改变 的一个关键问题，

And that is who children in foster care get to live with.

那就是寄养儿童和谁一起生活。

Kin.

亲属关系。

We believe that kin can transform the foster care experience.

我们相信亲属关系可以改变寄养体验。

Kinship care is when a child goes ahead

亲属照顾是指孩子能

and is able to live with an extended family member

够与已经认识的亲属

or an adult that they have already known,

或爱护他们的成年人一起生活。

an adult who loves them.

That adult can be a church member, a close family friend.

这个成年人可以是教堂成员、 亲密的家庭朋友。

And what we now know

我们现在知道的研究表明，

is that research is showing that when children are placed with kin,

当孩子与亲属一起生活时，

they fare way better,

他们在心理健康、

from mental health, to stability, to graduating high school on time.

稳定性和按时高中毕业等方面表现更好。

And yet only 35 percent of young people in the foster care system

然而，实际上只有 35 % 的寄养系统中的年轻人

are actually placed with kin.

真正与亲属一起生活。

But it doesn't have to be this way.

但事实不必如此。

In one state, in partnership, right,

在一个州中，我们与伙伴合作，

we went in and we implemented some simple solutions,

采取了一些简单的解决方案，

like, let's ask young people which adults in their family they should live with.

比如让年轻人选择他们在家庭中 应该和哪些成年人一起生活。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I wish I told you something better.

我希望能告诉你更好的事情。

That is one solution.

这是一个解决方案。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

We ask,

我们要求社工在将他们安置

we went ahead and like, require social workers to get extra approvals

if they're going to place you outside of kin.

在亲属之外时获得额外的批准。

The result?

结果如何呢？

The initial placement with young people in the foster care system

在寄养系统中，

in a situation where they were living with kin,

与年轻人最初安置在与亲 属一起生活的情况下，

rose from three percent to over 40 percent in just two years.

两年内从 3 %上升超过 40 %。

(Applause)

（掌声）

In another state, we looked at a county,

在另一个州， 我们观察了一个县，

we looked at that state, and in one county

我们观察了那个州，在一个县里，

they were able to figure out

他们设法让

how to place over 80 percent of those children with kin.

80 %以上的儿童 与亲属一起生活。

So the idea that young people don't have adults in their life

所以，关于年轻人 没有能够站出来的

who can step up, is not true.

成年人这个想法是不正确的。

Here's what this shows.

这就是它所展示的。

That when the system believes that children should be raised in family,

当体制认为孩子 应该在家庭中成长时，

guess what?

猜猜发生了什么？

That the children are actually raised in family.

孩子们实际上是在家庭中成长的。

For me, I was almost 30 years old

对我来说， 当我快 30 岁的时候，

when my sister called me while I was visiting New York City.

我的妹妹在我访问纽约市 的时候给我打电话。

She told me that in just three hours

她告诉我，只要三个小时，

that my father's side of the family

我父亲这一边 的家族将举办家庭聚会。

was going to be having a family reunion.

They didn't know I existed.

他们不知道我存在。

And I didn't know that they existed.

而我也不知道他们的存在。

And so I raced over to Harlem,

于是我飞奔到哈林区，

walked through that park, looking at every single family,

穿过那个公园，看着每个家庭，

wondering which one was mine.

想知道哪一个是我的家庭。

When I finally arrived,

当我终于到达时，

words can't describe that moment.

言语无法形容那一刻。

They were kind.

他们友善。

They were accepting.

他们接纳我。

They were curious about who I was.

他们对我感到好奇。

And then about 90 minutes in, everything changed.

然后大约 90 分钟后， 一切都改变了。

I discovered that I had four aunts and uncles

我发现我有四个姑姑和叔叔，

who had been fostering longer than I had been alive.

他们寄养的时间 比我活了那么多年还长。

In that moment, all I can do was go into my pocket,

那一刻，我只能从口袋里拿出手机，

pull out my phone,

打开谷歌地图，

open Google Maps

GPS导航到我最后一个寄养家庭。

and GPS to my last foster home.

Fifty-eight miles away.

58 英里之外。

My whole life,

我的整个生活，

I was always 58 miles

我总是 58 英里

and a couple questions away

和几个问题之遥，

from being raised by people who could have loved me,

与那些本可以爱我的人、

by people who could have been my family.

本可以成为我的家人一起生活。

The worst part about this is that my story is actually not unique.

最糟糕的是，

我的故事实际上 并不是独特的。

That every single year hundreds of thousands of children

每年都有成千上万 的孩子进入寄养系统，

are entering the foster care system and they're not being placed with family.

他们没有被安置在家庭中。

And again, it actually doesn't have to be this way.

而且实际上情况并不必然如此。

The system spends over 30 billion dollars on less than one million families a year.

这个系统每年花费超过 300 亿美元 来照顾不到 100 万个家庭。

That is more than enough to make sure we find family, we support them,

这足够确保我们找 到亲属，支持他们，

and that every child is living in a loving family situation.

并让每个孩子都能生活在一个 充满爱的家庭环境中。

Right now,

现在，

there's a big systems change opportunity,

有一个巨大的系统变革机遇，

a federal decision that would make it super easy

一个联邦决策可以让与孩子 有亲属关系的人站出来说：

to have people who are related to a child step up and say,

"I'm willing to do this" and get that support.

“我愿意这样做”，并获得支持。

If approved,

如果获得批准，

we would see three billion dollars shift from traditional foster care

我们将看到 30 亿美元从传统 的寄养照顾转向亲属照顾。

to kinship care.

So when we work on these crazy ideas

所以，当我们努力将亲属照顾变为常

like “let’s make kinship care the norm,”

态这样疯狂的想法时，

it is actually possible.

它是完全可能实现的。

And I want to leave you with three things to think about.

我想给你们留下三件事让你们思考。

Number one, I came on this stage with, like, a very simple idea.

第一，我站在这个舞台上时 有一个非常简单的想法，

Children should be raised in family.

那就是孩子应该在家庭中成长。

How can we replace the majority of foster care with kinship care?

我们如何通过亲属照顾取代 大部分寄养照顾？

Number two.

第二，

How do we center those who have been impacted,

当我们设计和实施亲属照顾时，

those who have lived experience,

in making kinship care the new norm

我们如何以那些受影响和 有亲身经历的人为中心？

as we design it and implement it?

And the last part,

最后，

I want to tell you, we need some help.

我想告诉你们， 我们需要一些帮助。

We need some allies.

我们需要一些盟友。

We need you to become advocates with us.

我们需要你们 与我们一起成为倡导者。

And you don't have to be a foster care expert

而你们并不需要成为寄养专家，

to know the power of family

就能够了解家庭的力量，

and to know that every child should be being raised by family

了解每个孩子在可能的情况下 都应该由家人或熟悉的人来抚养。

or someone that they know when it's possible.

I will say this.

我想说的是，

I truly believe we're at this pivot point.

我真心相信我们 正处在一个转折点上。

And then if we push just a little bit harder in this very moment,

如果我们在这个时刻 再稍微努力一点，

that we can actually live in a new reality

我们实际上可以生活 在一个新的现实中，

where when children have to come into the foster care system,

当孩子不得不进入寄养系统时，

that the first thing that is looked at is extended family,

首先要考虑的是亲属，

it's people that they know.

是他们认识的人。

And if we are able to achieve that,

如果我们能够实现这一点，

we will literally be able to ensure that millions of children

我们将真正能够确保数 百万儿童从校车上下来，

will come off of that school bus,

go into their homes,

走进他们的家，

look at family members,

看着家庭成员，

people that they know,

看着他们认识的人，

and say, "I am loved."

然后说：“我被爱着。”

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌声和欢呼）